The relict gull or Central Asian gull ( Ichthyaetus relictus) is a medium-sized gull. It was believed to be an eastern race of the Mediterranean gull until 1971 and was traditionally placed in the genus Larus.
Description
The gull is 44 to 45 cm long with a stocky, thick body. Non-breeding adults feature uniformly dark-smudged ear-coverts and hind crown, white-tipped wings, prominent, isolated black subterminal markings on outer primaries, and no white leading edge to outer wing. Breeding birds have black hoods (including napes) with grey-brown foreheads, and broad, white, half-moon colouring behind, below, and above their eyes. Their legs are orange and their bills scarlet. The name comes from its status as a relict species.
Distribution and habitat
The gull breeds in several locations in
Mongolia (
e.g., Galuut Lake,
Khukh Lake, and
Chukh Lake), two in
Kazakhstan, one in
Russia, and one in
China (Lake Hongjiannao). Small numbers appear to
bird migration to
South Korea during the nonbreeding period. There is additional evidence that larger numbers may migrate to eastern China as well, but this is not verified.
The gulls breed starting in early June and going through early August in colonies on islands in Seawater .
Status and conservation
The population is estimated to be at 10,000 or fewer, with numbers dropping. It is classified as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List. Its greatest threats are changes of water level in the breeding lakes, predation from other gulls,
and
flooding.
Human disturbance has increased their vulnerability to all these factors, resulting in further risks for the adult gulls and increased mortality for chicks and eggs. They are also experiencing trouble migrating to breeding grounds due to the lack of useable stopover locations.
In order to combat this,
in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Russia have been established, for example in the
Mongol Daguur region.
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